Live-fire refresher brings Concrete firefighters to Worcester; foundation covers roughly two-thirds of cost

Brian Woodney, who identified himself as fire chief, said a foundation covered a substantial portion of the cost to send Concrete firefighters to live-fire refresher training at the Worcester Firefighters Training Academy. "The Liberty Foundation is, paying for, a significant portion of this training, probably about 0.667 of the cost of it," Woodney said in the transcript.

Woodney said the training is intended as a skills refresher for personnel who already completed the fire academy and that live-fire opportunities are rare. "Everybody has been through the fire academy... it's just that there aren't that many opportunities to train under live fire conditions and this has just been one of those opportunities where, we can refresh our skills," he said. He described practical exercises including moving hose lines, search and rescue and throwing ground ladders for access and escape.

The transcript records an inconsistency in the foundation's name: the funding is identified first as the "Liberty Foundation" and later as the "Larry Foundation." The transcript also quantifies the contribution as "probably about 0.667 of the cost," which the department presented as an approximate share rather than a final accounting. Training organizers said sessions are staged in groups: two groups trained last week, the third group was on site today, and a fourth group was scheduled for the following day.

Woodney emphasized the training's practical value for personnel who have not yet worked together. "We can also work with people in a fire that we may not have worked with yet," he said. The sessions were held at the Worcester Firefighters Training Academy headquarters and were described as providing critical hands-on experience that cannot be fully replicated in station drills.